The new funding, a gift from the Jewish Heritage Fund (JHF), will go to support and strengthen UofL’sĚýcore research facilities — shared labs that provide researchers with access to advanced equipment, specialized scientific techniques and skilled personnel that can help accelerate discovery and innovation. Across UofL, researchers are using core facilities to develop everything from new diagnostics and treatments to advanced manufacturing of novel materials and devices.Ěý

“UofL is a hub for cutting-edge research, and these labs are the backbone of that work,” said Kim Schatzel, UofL’s president. “We are very grateful for JHF’s continued partnership and most recent gift, which will help grow these critical facilities and empower researchers to push the boundaries of knowledge and deliver high-impact results that benefit everyone.”

This gift marks a total of more than $40 million in combined funding and in-kind donations by JHF to UofL in a decade-long partnership focused on advancing health. At UofL, JHF’s investments have resulted in new medical breakthroughs, direct support for 52 researchers thus far and more than $165 million in new external research funding.

“We are proud to partner with UofL and leverage its biomedical expertise and strength as a Research-1 institution,” said Jeff Polson, JHF’s president and CEO. “Together, we have advanced adolescent health, funded groundbreaking research, and supported community partners to overcome obstacles and strive for new heights.”

Jon Klein, UofL’s interim executive vice president for research and innovation, said collaboration with community organizations is critical to UofL’s groundbreaking research. UofL is one of just 84 universities in the country to receive both the Research-1 and Community Engaged designations from the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher łÉČËÖ±˛Ą. The latter recognizes institutions that work with community partners to exchange knowledge and resources for public benefit.

“UofL is a premier, community engaged research institution, and this partnership is an excellent example of what that means,” Klein said. “Great community partners like JHF are vital to UofL’s work to create and apply knowledge that improves lives.”

“This season we had SummerWorks youth doing everything from skilled trades training to technology entrepreneurship and science research,” said Mayor Greenberg. “It’s exciting to see the collaboration with employers in the private and public sectors, as well as our largest educational institutions JCPS and UofL.”

The Louisville Science Pathways program, which is funded by SummerWorks, placed high school students in STEM labs across multiple departments at UofL. These students got hands-on experience assisting professional scientists and faculty in areas such as neurobiology, psychology, computer science, engineering and more. In addition to Louisville Science Pathways, SummerWorks also supported youth working at the at the J.B. Speed School of Engineering.

“We are proud to partner with Mayor Greenberg and his SummerWorks program to provide exciting opportunities like the ones at the Louisville Science Pathways and the J.B. Speed School of Engineering. Both of these efforts are exposing a diverse set of students to people, careers and educational pathways that they might otherwise never know about,” Schatzel said. “We love that high school students are getting exposed to our beautiful campus, our great faculty and our talented graduate and undergraduate students. We hope to see many of them in a year or two as students at UofL.”

SummerWorks participants see higher rates of graduation, college attendance and full-time employment than their peers, according to a 2019 study by the Kentucky Center for Statistics.

“Young people are our next generation of leaders, yet too many, especially from underrepresented communities, don’t have access to the skills, network and work experience they need to prepare them for meaningful employment opportunities in the future,” said Costel, Kentucky Region Manager for JPMorgan Chase. “Good jobs are the foundation of a strong economy but remain out of reach for too many. Bringing together local government, employers and community partners through summer youth employment programs can help bridge this gap and ensure that more young people are connected with the resources and tools they need to better prepare them for the opportunities of tomorrow.”

All Louisville youth ages 16 to 21 (as of June 1) are eligible to enroll in SummerWorks. Applicants who face barriers and come from disadvantaged backgrounds are prioritized in the job-matching process. Once youth register online, they can create or upload a resume, get soft skills training and apply for job opportunities.

SummerWorks also is continuing to sponsor jobs and work-learn experiences at nonprofits and agencies across the community that share the program’s commitment to advancing equity.

SummerWorks is operated by Louisville in partnership with , the Louisville region’s Workforce Development Board. SummerWorks’ core operating funds are approved by the Louisville Metro Council. Supporters of SummerWorks include the James Graham Brown Foundation, the Diaz Family Foundation, JPMorgan Chase, the Jewish Heritage Fund, the Gingko Foundation and others.

To learn more about SummerWorks and how to get involved as a participant, employer or supporter, visit .

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The Body Project recently received a $125,000 grant from JHF, which provides grants aimed at improving health outcomes and supporting medical research in Louisville and Kentucky.

The funding will be used for training, materials, staffing and outreach for the Body Project to expand across Louisville, especially into the West End, a traditionally lower-income area with a high population of underrepresented minorities.

The Body Project has been used successfully in two private, all-girls Louisville high schools, and , over several years and is expected to be used in and beginning this fall.Ěý

It is part of UofL’s founded by Cheri Levinson, associate professor in the Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, and directed by clinical psychology doctoral student Brenna Williams. UofL grad Jillian Winn is a study coordinator for the High School Body Project expansion.

Levinson is also medical director of the , the state’s only center of its kind.

Jennifer Shanks, a personal wellness counselor at Mercy Academy, called eating disorders a “hidden illness” made worse by poor role-modeling of body images and “exacerbated by social media messaging.”Ěý

The EAT Lab is staffed by a team of postdoctoral fellows, doctoral, graduate and undergraduate UofL students. The team coordinates all aspects of the lab, including current work developing and implementing National Institute of Mental Health-funded research into new treatments and technologies for eating disorders and promoting outreach and support for those with eating disorders in the community.

A 2019 article published in the journal presented the first findings from Body Project implementation at Mercy and Presentation. The data showed the project was effective in decreasing feelings of social appearance anxiety, physical and social anxiety sensitivity, rumination, worry, perfectionism and guilt.Ěý

More than 600 high school students have taken part in the project. A version of the Body Project has also been developed for college students.

In partnership with the National Eating Disorder Association (NEDA), local community volunteers are trained in how to present Body Project materials over four weeks. Participants are asked to assess eating disorder symptoms, such as a desire to be thin, body dissatisfaction, anxiety and depression, both before and after the project’s duration.

In the grant application, Levinson noted that eating disorders are diagnosed at younger ages than ever — sometimes as early as 12 years old. Last year, 10,000 deaths in the U.S. were blamed on eating disorders.

In addition, despite stereotypes that eating disorders affect only affluent, young, white women, they “impact everyone regardless of race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status or sexual orientation,” Levinson said.Ěý

In Kentucky, the few prevention and treatment options that exist are not available to everyone who needs them.Ěý

“Despite the high prevalence of EDs in children and adolescents in Kentucky, there are few prevention and treatment options,” Levinson said. “For example, there is no program in the U.S. that accepts Kentucky Medicaid for higher-level ED treatment, meaning that our children and adolescents in Kentucky supported by Medicaid are often left to die without treatment.”

Since 2012, the JHF has invested more than $69 million in more than .